Nina Simone | Forbidden Fruit | Vinyl

Produced by Cal Lampley for Colpix Records, Forbidden Fruit was Simone’s third studio album and leaned into a looser, more folk- and blues-informed sound than her classical-influenced debut, featuring longtime guitarist Al Schackman alongside bassist Chris White and drummer Bobby Hamilton. The title track, part nursery rhyme and part call-and-response retelling of the Adam and Eve story, anchors a set that also includes three songs by Oscar Brown Jr., a spare version of the prison work song ‘Work Song,’ and the torchy ‘Just Say I Love Him.’ Contemporary critics were divided on whether to classify Simone as a jazz artist at all, with one 1961 DownBeat review calling the record ‘not a jazz album’ while still praising her singing; history has since embraced it as an essential early chapter in her genre-crossing catalog. This 180-gram green vinyl edition brings the record back for collectors of Simone’s early Colpix era.

Track List

Side A

1. Rags and Old Iron
2. No Good Man
3. Gin House Blues
4. I’ll Look Around
5. I Love to Love

Side B

1. Work Song
2. Where Can I Go Without You
3. Just Say I Love Him
4. Memphis in June
5. Forbidden Fruit

Release Details

• UPC: 5060348582526
• Label: 0
• Format: LP Vinyl — 180G Green Vinyl
• Genre: Jazz
• Release Date: 8/11/2017